Making Me Mommy: Meatloaf Muffins Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

Wanted: Tips for Being The Best Stay At Home Mom I Can Be

Being a stay at home mom is the hardest job I have ever had - yet it's by far the best. I started staying home about eleven months ago, with my then eight month old daughter. I thought I was going to have oodles of free time as she napped and we would have tons of time to play together. Little did I know naps aren't a given no matter how much you work to have a stable schedule. However making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as doing the laundry, keeping up with my housework and all the house hold errands are a given. Yup, staying home was a bigger job then I realized and wanting the best for my daughter meant I needed to brush up on my preschool lessons as well as my ability to make a variety of meals that could provide my family with healthy options. I started adjusting to the demands and doing what I felt was a good job and really got into a nice groove right about the time my second daughter came along. Things got busier and I have been feeling my way through life as a stay at home mom. We have a schedule that works for us - and now that I live this life, I wouldn't want it any other way for me and my family. As a previous career woman I have a huge respect for both at home moms and at work moms and my goal is to share some of the things that make my life as a mommy easier - from recipes to crafts I hope what we do in our home can make it to your home and you'll enjoy it!

My daily posts include fun activties I am doing in real time with my kiddos, dinners I am making for my family, snacks, and some fun things I discover along the way. I hope they are things other moms can use as tips rather than recreating the wheel. Let me know what you think and lets share some tips because nothing is better than bragging about what you and your little ones can do together!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Meatloaf Muffins Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

A Great Twist On Mom's Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those comfort meals that my husband enjoys in the fall and winter, so it's what we had for dinner last night. It's just one of those meals that make you feel like your home and remind you of mom's cooking - something that many military men/women enjoy since having mom's cooking doesn't happen often. One thing I do, is make my meatloaf in muffin tins. It makes a crispy muffin top and allows for easy portion control. Another great thing about making your meatloaf as muffins - you can freeze your left overs for a quick meal later. I kick my meatloaf up by adding a piece of cheddar string cheese to the center. It gives you a warm melted cheese taste with every bite - something we love at our house. This is really easy to make and tastes great over mashed potatoes and gravy (another comfort meal we love at our house).

Here's how I make mine:

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Total time: 55 min

1 lb of 93% ground beef

1 large egg

4 T Italian seasoned bread crumbs

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

1 medium chopped onion

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 T chopped garlic

1 T Italian seasoning

3 reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese Sticks

Additional Salt and Pepper for topping

BBQ Sauce (optional)

To start out preheat your oven to 350. In a mixing bowl mix the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, onion, black pepper, salt, garlic, and Italian Seasoning. Then, using a half dozen muffin tin spray your pan with cooking spray. Fill your muffin tins with the meat - load them up so they look like cooked muffins that have already risen. When you have shaped your muffins, take your finger and poke a hole down the center of each "muffin." Now cut your Cheddar Cheese Sticks in half and push them into the hole you made in the center of the muffin. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I will cover mine with our favorite BBQ sauce for an extra kick, but this is optional. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes then serve.

Hope you enjoy!

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Making My Path, My Road to Becoming Mommy

I guess we are all works in progress, some of us start out on a path and follow it straight, while others take many twists and turns. My life seems to be one with a few twists and turns, so far all for the better, and all leading me to who I am today. I am Jennifer, mom of two girls ages 19 months and 4 months. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but never seemed to meet the person I was supposed to be mom with, and wondered would it ever be? Then in 2009 I met an amazing man and right away I knew he was the person I would be with forever. There was a lot of reasons people would have thought I was crazy - like the fact that he lived in California and I lived in Massachusetts but from the first night we met there was that instant spark. After dating for a couple of months he moved to Rhode Island (he is in the military and was planning the move when we met), we were engaged five months after meeting - married ten months after meeting - and moved again, this time together, fifteen months after meeting. It was a world wind, and I still can't believe how quickly time has passed. Our biggest milestone was the birth of our first daughter. She arrived shortly after we settled in to our life in Nebraska. She has been amazing and every second with her has been wonderful. I attempted to return to work three months after she was born, but it was more difficult than I expected. I made it six months as a working mom, there are days I miss it but all in all I know I am where my heart is at this point in my life. My husband was promoted and we learned another move was in our sights so this made the decision to stay home a little easier for me. All this happened just about the time I also learned we were expecting baby number two! Pregnancy came and went - although with my second it felt like it stuck around a little longer than it did the first time. I guess when you have two so close together you feel like you have been pregnant for years, basically because you have been. Now I am a mom of two. I have my days where I feel like I have conquered the world and my days where I feel like the world has conquered me (for some reason that seems to happen on the days I attempt grocery shopping with both of them before nap time - you'd think I would learn this doesn't work) but I am a work in progress. I hope someday I will be a mom of three - believe it or not, but for now I am enjoying my two little ladies. I am setting up this blog because I wanted to have a place to share some of my ideas. Some may be good and you may be able to use them, some may be bad and you may be able to laugh at them. I love to cook for my family and enjoy working on preschool activties and DIY projects and crafts around the house. I am hoping to share some of what I do with others along the way. Getting all of these ideas down is going to take time, thats what will make me mommy - hence the name, but hopefully you'll check in along the way.